How can I make a SharePoint folder available to anyone but only on a read and download basis?

Shalom - if I may ask you two further questions.

1. When you suggest creating a new site on SP, do you mean the Create + function within the existing company SP platform or a whole new site using a different email address etc?
2. I would like to have the ability to send a link to specific folders on the SP site to anyone, not necessarily having their email addresses. I have an investment broker who will send this 'anyone can access this folder' link to his investors, so I don't want to have to specify recipients at this point.

Can you assist me on these points?

Thanks, Mark

if you don’t have full admin permissions on the SharePoint site, you may not be able to share the folder with anyone outside of your organization. However, there are a few workarounds that you can try:

Create a new SharePoint site: You can create a new SharePoint site and give yourself full admin permissions. Then, you can move the folder to the new site and share it with anyone you want.

Use OneDrive: You can upload the files to OneDrive and share them from there. This will allow you to share the files with anyone, even if you don’t have full admin permissions on the SharePoint site.

Create unique permissions: You can create unique permissions for the folder and the files within it. This will allow you to give specific people access to the folder and its contents, even if you don’t have full admin permissions on the SharePoint site. Here’s how you can do it:

Go to the folder you want to share and click on the “…” button. Select “Manage access” and then “Advanced”. Click on “Stop inheriting permissions” and then “Grant Permissions”. Add the people you want to give access to and set their permissions to “Read” or “Edit”. Click “Share” and then “Copy link” to get a link that you can share with the people you added.

I hope this helps

Shalom, thank you fr taking the time to write such a helpful reply. I have done those steps already but I think I know there may be another issue preventing me from making the selected files available to 'anyone'. I do not appear to have full admin permissions on the SharePoint site, which is what may be stopping me from sharing viable links. I have had these links tested the 'receiving end' and they do not work, presumably because the full admin permissions are not in place. The issue is that our team member who had this admin role has left the business and did not provide a handover to ensure smooth admin transition. Is there a work-around for this?

Hello Mark I,

I'm Shalom and I'd happily help you with your question. In this forum, we are Microsoft consumers just like yourself.

To make a SharePoint folder available to anyone but only on a read and download basis, you can follow these steps:

Set Read permissions: Go to the Site where your files are located and click on “Documents” in the menu bar. Then click on “Site Contents” and select “Settings”. Click on “Site permissions” and then “Advanced permission settings”. In the advanced section, click on “Documents” and select “Edit User Permissions”. From there, you can set the permissions to “Read” for the groups or people you want to allow access to.

Create a sharing link: Once you have set the permissions, you can create a sharing link that can be used to access the folder. To do this, go to the folder you want to share and click on the “Share” button. In the “Share” dialog box, click on “Get a link” and select “People with existing access” under “Choose an option”. Then select “View” under “Allow recipients to” and click on “Create”.

By following these steps, you can make your SharePoint folder available to anyone with the link, but only on a read and download basis. I hope this helps!

Best Regards, Shalom